Tara House

This rural house on the coast is configured around a tropical garden. Rooms are loosely arranged in a concentric circle, exploring layers of privacy as a journey through the building is a sequence of gradual discovery. Rooms are connected by louvred hallways and verandahs while vertical timber slats complete the garden’s enclosure, allowing breezes to filter through. Most private of all is a secret stone chamber under the courtyard filled with water from a subterranean aquifer. Circular air holes allow shafts of light and the sound of the ocean to penetrate and the water level fluctuates in response to tides and seasons providing a refuge from the Indian sun.